Farmer accidentally breeds sheep-goat hybrid

In November 2013, farmer Paddy Murphy witnessed one of his sheep
mating with a goat. Five months later, the sheep gave birth to a
sheep-goat hybrid, which Murphy refers to as his first "geep".

"This is the progeny of a goat out of a sheep. He's a week old
now. He's like a deer, it's unbelievable, he's so fast you'd have
to get him into the pen to catch him. There's no chance you would
catch him otherwise," explained an amused Murphy in an interview
with the Irish Farmers Journal.

The geep is in good health, with video footage displaying the
happy hybrid scuttling around Murphy's farm, in County Kildare,
Ireland. The ewe responsible for this unlikely birth is said to
have taken to her offspring immediately, with no signs of wishing
to abandon the young geep.

While this is possibly the only living geep in Ireland, it's not
uncommon for a goat to attempt coitus with a sheep. However, this
usually results in the hybrid dying during pregnancy or being still
born. Murphy's geep, it would appear, is lucky to be alive.

Indeed, the discussion over the possibility of sheep-goat
hybrids dates back hundreds of years. In Darwinism -- An
Exposition Of The Theory Of Natural Selection With Some Of Its
Applications, published 1889, British naturalist Alfred Russel
Wallace wrote of his correspondence with a "Mr.Low," who detailed
various aspects of the hybrid during his travels:

"Hybrids bred from goat and sheep are called 'chabin' in French,
and 'cabruno' in Spanish. In Chile such hybrids are called
'carneros lanudos'; their breeding inter se appears to be not
always successful, and often the original cross has to be
recommenced to obtain the proportion of three-eighths of he-goat
and five-eighths of sheep, or of three-eighths of ram and
five-eighths of she-goat; such being the reputed best hybrids."

Other known instances of living geeps have appeared in Botswana
in 2000, New Zealand in 1990 and France in 1988. However, there may
be many other instances of non-documented living hybrids.

As for Murphy, he intends to keep his geep, so long as it
behaves. "He's an unusual character", said Murphy, "but if it
becomes a nuisance, it'll have to be got rid of."